Lexington based nonprofit Step by Step works to empower young single mothers through healing, faith and education.

Last week, the group partnered with Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky to show single moms how they can protect their kids from sexual abuse using other single moms as teachers.

We've been surveying young single moms ages 12 to 24 for almost 30 years.

This is for any young, single mom, pregnant or parenting who just wants to come and have community.

We have free transportation, we have children's programing.

We have a hot meal.

Some nights it's craft night, some nights it's talking about hard things like tonight.

Tonight was all about child sexual abuse and how to keep your child safe.

What we learned from our moms is that about 89% of them have experienced some sort of sexual violence in their life.

When you are already someone who might have experienced some hardships and some adverse childhood experiences, you might not have the knowledge of how to protect your child.

I was on a call and listening to Prevent Child Abuse.

Kentucky gave one of the best trading shots ever heard.

And I contacted them immediately and said, Can you come and do something with our moms?

We were actually doing a training for foster parents, talking about preventing child sexual abuse.

And Tonya, let's step by step held on till after the training and said, I have this program and I know they are these mothers that need this education.

But here is the idea I have.

What if it's not you all providing the education but peers?

So moms teaching other moms how to keep their kids safe.

We really wanted to connect these young women with an opportunity to teach other young women about the ways to keep their kids safe.

So they went through intensive training and helped write the curriculum, and then they gave the curriculum tonight.

I have experienced sexual abuse myself.

My daughter has experienced some things, and I just want to be able to walk through this.

So with the experience, I'm just open to be able to learn new things and know about it and able to share it with other single mothers.

Child sexual abuse tends to be a subject that people want to sweep under the rug.

They might be uncomfortable, they might not know where to start when talking about it.

So we like to give them those talking points.

Parents need to have talks with their kids about body safety and about safe, trusted adults who they could go to should anything ever happen to them.

If they don't want to be around somebody.

Don't take it.

They say no, trust your child and not take.

Whether that's daycare, school, anywhere, if they if your child tells you they're not comfortable with them, don't take off.

If they start behaving differently, acting out, you know, having problems in school, my daughter, I notice I'm actually the the signs that they taught us, you know, spend a lot of time on the phone being secretive with the phone, trying to go up in a room and play on the phone.

And so I looked on her roadblocks and there was somebody inbox and her some very inappropriate things.

Just being aware of who they're around, what they're doing when they're doing it.

Just being aware of what they're doing at all times.

The mother.

She also keep secrets from me.

So at first it was very overwhelming because it brought up a lot of stuff that happened to me.

But then afterwards, I learned a lot how to teach my children, and I knew that was very overwhelming for me.

It would be for other moms.

So I wanted to share it so they can learn it and know the steps and how to watch it.

They are not who the society thinks they are, and when they walk through these doors, they get to shed all of that and just be young women who want to make a change in the community.

I was humbled and honored to be a part of this.

I went into it thinking of what a great project it is, but not realizing the how much I would be personally touched by the moms who are now my sisters.

They became my family when I didn't have any family.

And I'm really thankful.

This coming here has definitely just changed me as a woman and helped me grow tremendously.

And I just cannot be more thankful for all the wonderful women and just everyone I've met through step by step and just all the support and love that they give us.

It has definitely just dramatically changed my life, my children's life, and then their children's life to come.